A variety of objects lie buried just beneath the surface of the earth, including coins, jewelry and other artifacts of monetary and/or sentimental value. Such objects are commonly lost at beach areas, for example.
Various equipment has been devised to locate and retrieve such objects. For instance, metal detectors make it possible to quickly and easily locate the buried objects, which may then be retrieved by any suitable means. Prior art devices used for this purpose typically include a variety of tools, including spades, shovels, sieves and the like. At present, the treasure hunter must carry all of these tools as separate items. Moreover, these prior art tools have generally been developed for another purpose and they are not entirely satisfactory for treasure hunting. For instance, with the tools available in the prior art, considerable bending and stooping must be performed in order to retrieve the buried objects. Further, sieves and the like are usually not strong enough nor designed to be dragged through loose soil, especially wet sand, whereby the sand will filter through the sieve, leaving the artifacts behind. Even when this result is accomplished, many sieves are not properly dimensioned to permit the treasure hunter to easily gain access to the interior of the sieve for retrieving recovered objects.
Moreover, since treasure hunters typically spend many hours and walk great distances while seeking buried treasure, it is important that the tools used are lightweight and compact. Prior art tools are generally not designed with this in mind.